Hitchiker crab Id please

vinman · 10/06/2017, 09:58 AM

Been reading about Gorilla type crabs or non safe reef hitchiker crabs. Found this little guy in my Montipora and there was some bleaching around the area where he was hiding. Am I to assume he's been eating the coral?

I caught him and here he is? Is this one i don't want?

Thanks!

slief · 10/06/2017, 01:05 PM

Looks like a Teddy Bear Crab. If it is, it's generally considered to not be reef safe.

billdogg · 10/06/2017, 01:07 PM

I toss guys like that into my Frag Tank's sump where there is a ton of live rock and not much else. They're happy?, I'm happy, and the corals are not bothered any longer

vinman · 10/06/2017, 01:36 PM

Thanks for the responses. I heard most "hairy" crabs are not good and better safe than sorry plus i'm pretty sure the bleached part of the montipora is where is has been feasting. I have a backpack fuge in the back of my nano i guess is where i could throw him but i head if these crabs are specific type of eaters (e.g coral eating) without this particular food it will perish anyway.

xCry0x · 10/06/2017, 01:57 PM

I threw my undesirable hitchhiker crabs in the aggressive FOWLR tank we had at work.

Jekerry · 10/06/2017, 02:46 PM

This might be too gruesome, but does anyone kill them like by freezing and them use them for food for the tank? Seems better than just letting them die.

mikenh77 · 10/06/2017, 08:22 PM

I found a crab just like that in my mixed reef. Ate sps polyps and a couple small clowns. Never found out the name.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

StinkinTuna · 10/06/2017, 08:47 PM

I had a similar crab back when I had ny 300g.

Didn't bother a thing and I fed it during feeding time. I actually thought it was one of the coolest inhabitants in my tank!

Here's my experience with mine, have some big pics of it in this thread and got some of the old pics working again so you can compare to your crab ( this was back in 06):
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=752679

Keep your crab and see how he does. Most peeps that saw my tank thought it was cooler than all my fish lol! I HOPE to get a crab like that again when I order my lr for my current setup!

He never bothered coral or fish. Maybe keeping him well fed was the rrick, maybe I just got lucky.

vinman · 10/06/2017, 10:48 PM

Man,yours is way hairy. Mine is not as much and to reply to mikenh77, not sure how large your crab was to eat small clowns but mine is one quarter the size of a dime.

He is in the fuge now.

10/06/2017, 09:58 AM	#1
vinman Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Torrance, Ca Posts: 316	Hitchiker crab Id please Been reading about Gorilla type crabs or non safe reef hitchiker crabs. Found this little guy in my Montipora and there was some bleaching around the area where he was hiding. Am I to assume he's been eating the coral? I caught him and here he is? Is this one i don't want? Thanks!

10/06/2017, 01:05 PM	#2
slief RC Sponsor Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 14,173	Looks like a Teddy Bear Crab. If it is, it's generally considered to not be reef safe. __________________ Director Customer Support Royal Exclusiv USA For All Royal Exclusiv & Bubble King questions please refer to our Sponsor forum: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/fo...play.php?f=745 Current Tank Info: 480G display mixed reef, 90G sump, 90G refugium, 60G display refugium. Check out my build thread: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1783476

10/06/2017, 01:07 PM	#3
billdogg Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Grove City, Ohio Posts: 10,806	I toss guys like that into my Frag Tank's sump where there is a ton of live rock and not much else. They're happy?, I'm happy, and the corals are not bothered any longer __________________ I'll try to be nice if you try to be smarter! I can't help that I grow older, but you can't make me grow up! Current Tank Info: 120 mixed reef with 40b sump, RO 150 skimmer, AI Sol Blue x 2, and a 60g Frag Tank with 100g rubbermaid sump. 2 x Kessil A360w lights, BM curve 5 skimmer

10/06/2017, 01:57 PM	#5
xCry0x Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Martinez, CA Posts: 1,116	I threw my undesirable hitchhiker crabs in the aggressive FOWLR tank we had at work. __________________ Red Sea Max 250

10/06/2017, 01:36 PM	#4
vinman Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Torrance, Ca Posts: 316	Thanks for the responses. I heard most "hairy" crabs are not good and better safe than sorry plus i'm pretty sure the bleached part of the montipora is where is has been feasting. I have a backpack fuge in the back of my nano i guess is where i could throw him but i head if these crabs are specific type of eaters (e.g coral eating) without this particular food it will perish anyway.

10/06/2017, 02:46 PM	#6
Jekerry Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: Rochester NY Posts: 205	This might be too gruesome, but does anyone kill them like by freezing and them use them for food for the tank? Seems better than just letting them die.

10/06/2017, 08:22 PM	#7
mikenh77 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2017 Posts: 61	I found a crab just like that in my mixed reef. Ate sps polyps and a couple small clowns. Never found out the name. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

10/06/2017, 08:47 PM	#8
StinkinTuna Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: LA, CA Posts: 616	I had a similar crab back when I had ny 300g. Didn't bother a thing and I fed it during feeding time. I actually thought it was one of the coolest inhabitants in my tank! Here's my experience with mine, have some big pics of it in this thread and got some of the old pics working again so you can compare to your crab ( this was back in 06): http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=752679 Keep your crab and see how he does. Most peeps that saw my tank thought it was cooler than all my fish lol! I HOPE to get a crab like that again when I order my lr for my current setup! He never bothered coral or fish. Maybe keeping him well fed was the rrick, maybe I just got lucky.

10/06/2017, 10:48 PM	#9
vinman Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Torrance, Ca Posts: 316	Man,yours is way hairy. Mine is not as much and to reply to mikenh77, not sure how large your crab was to eat small clowns but mine is one quarter the size of a dime. He is in the fuge now.